Core values

Meaningful participation

We work collaboratively to ensure that the decisions we make as an organization are in the best interest of the people we serve.

We put ethics first

Every project we undertake should help us achieve our goals. Sometimes it is necessary to turn down a project or proposal because we feel that it does not fit into our ethical framework or does not advance our mission. We evaluate proposals against our ethical policy, and our staff collectively decide on whether the organisation should pursue them.

Reducing environmental impact

Climate change already affects the livelihoods of many people across the developing world, often the poorest and most vulnerable. Organisations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have called for significant reductions in carbon dioxide emissions and other polluting activities to avert potentially catastrophic consequences.

We believe that climate change must be considered when evaluating activities related to development. While most human activities involve some level of environmental impact, it is necessary to consider this against the perceived benefits of an activity, reduce impact where possible and find alternatives if necessary.

At Aptivate, we are committed to reduce our own environmental impact by:

using alternatives to travel, such as conferencing technology;

using alternative means of transport to short-haul flights;

shutting down IT systems when not in use;

investigating ways to mitigate the pollution generated by the manufacture, running and disposal of IT equipment;

recycling or re-using all possible office consumables;

engaging with other organisations on the issue of climate change.

Participation and Consent

People have a right to be heard on matters that affect their well-being - so we are morally obligated to listen, and help others raise their voice. No development project can effectively serve its recipients (or its users) without their frequent input during design and early testing - so we are practically required to get our users and beneficiaries involved early and often. This drives participatory international development and agile software development. It also drives our company's governance and management.

We are committed to ensuring that everyone in our workplace has a voice
in policies that affect them. We accomplish that by using participatory decision-making and testing each policy to ensure it won't prevent us from serving our clients or end users and it won't prevent
any of us from working effectively in the company. It turns out that this reduces our risks, helps us learn rapidly as an organisation, and increases our sense of satisfaction and engagement: doing the right thing is the most practical choice as well.

Get in touch

If you are planning a new international development project that involves designing or building a website or information system then we'd love to hear from you.